Sanlé Sory (born 1943) is a Burkinabe photographer.
As a teenager, he photographed automobile accidents around Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkino-Faso, which he would race to document on his motorcycle.[1] In 1960 he founded the Volta Photo Studio in Bobo-Dioulasso.[2][3] Following this he developed a reputation as a photographer of the Burkinabe club scene in the 1960s and 70s.[2] During this time he also organized bals poussières, or "dust balls", where he would provide a sound system and musicians for concerts stages in the countryside. Sory would roam the bals with his camera, taking photos for money.[4]
In 2018 the Art Institute of Chicago presented the exhibition Volta Photo: Starring Sanlé Sory and the People of Bobo-Dioulasso in the Small but Musically Mighty Country of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso).[5] Steidl published an accompanying catalogue, titled Volta Photo.[6] In 2021 the fashion designer Grace Wales Bonner released a line of clothing titled Volta Jazz and inspired by Sory's photographs. The line included a film by the same name, created by Joshua Woods.[7][8]
Sory's work is included in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston[9] the Museum of Modern Art, New York[10] and the Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College.[11]
References
edit- ^ Abani, Chris; Sory, Sanlé (19 April 2018). "The Postcolonial Moment". The New Republic.
- ^ a b Monks, Kieron. "Rare photos uncover Burkina Faso's underground club scene". edition.cnn.com.
- ^ Adams, Tim. "The big picture: a taste of freedom in 1970s west Africa". theguardian.com.
- ^ Niarchos, Nicolas (16 September 2018). "When Burkina Faso Vibrated with a New Culture". The New Yorker.
- ^ "Starring Sanlé Sory". Aperture. 9 May 2018.
- ^ "Sanlé Sory's joyful photographs of Burkina Faso in the 1970s". The Economist. 4 May 2018.
- ^ "Grace Wales Bonner Celebrates West African Nightlife in New Collection". AnOther. 23 June 2021.
- ^ Singer, Olivia (22 June 2021). "Wales Bonner Spring 2022 Menswear Collection". Vogue.
- ^ "Sanlé Sory: Yamaha de nuit". mfah.org.
- ^ "Sanlé Sory: Burkinabe, born 1943". moma.org.
- ^ "Sanlé Sory - Tang Teaching Museum". Tang Teaching Museum.